The present invention relates to managing product information, and more particularly, is directed to creating product information, including, in some cases, product tag information, to reflect the product's history and destination, and then updating the information to reflect product usage and exception events.
For medical products, such as pharmaceuticals and devices, some government regulations define information about the product as being part of the product. Regulations from different governments may conflict.
Certain government regulations further define the “label” for a medical product as comprising certain information affixed to the product's container as well as certain information accompanying the product, such as a written sheet with usage instructions or other information.
Government regulations for medical products differ by country, and may include requirements such as:                making information available in Braille or audio for blind or partially-sighted customers,        recording and reporting, within a first time period, of fatal or life-threatening experiences with the medical product,        recording and reporting, within a second time period, of serious, unexpected, adverse experiences with the medical product,        recording and reporting, within a third time period, of all adverse experiences with the medical product,        storing, for a fourth time period, of all correspondence relating to experiences with the medical product, and        ability to track a medical product through its life-cycle, defined as all or part of manufacturing, distribution and usage.Further, a single medical product may be subject to different regulatory or procedural regimes, depending on how the product is used, e.g., given by a physician, or used by a consumer at home.        
Best practices suggest that recording negative quality experiences, adverse reactions and other information associated with lot numbers or serial numbers helps focus quality initiatives.
In regions such as Europe, a medical products distributor may have to comply with preparing product labels in approximately 20 different languages.
A product distributor is a party other than the manufacturer, end user, or end user's medical services provider. Thus, a pharmacy can serve as a distributor.
Internet Publication http://www.devicelink.com/pmpn/archive/98/09/005.html discloses a medical packaging system for a medical products manufacturer, which utilizes a multilingual labeling sub-system in order to comply with European multiple-language labeling requirements. The sub-system scans a route sheet for a specific product code, and then compiles variable text, including language(s) for labels. A medical products manufacturer uses a language database, programs its printers to pull information from the database, and prints on packages produced from form-fill-seal machines.
It will be appreciated that the needs and capabilities of a manufacturer are different than those of a distributor.
For branded products from certain manufacturers that are distributed by multiple distributors, being able to prove that problem products were distributed by other than a specified distributor is of interest. Specifically, in products liability lawsuits where it is substantially impossible to prove which distributor distributed the problem products, it may be the case that liability is assigned to all distributors typically in proportion to their market share. Thus, the distributors with the largest market share have an interest in proving that the problem products came from distributors other than themselves.
U.S. Publication No. 20030229543 to Shannon M. Zimmerman et al. relates to centralized management of packaging data with rule-based content validation, which provides an online environment whereby manufacturers manage packaging data for their products. FIG. 14 illustrates translations data entry window 108E of user interface 101 that allows the user to select one or more languages 136 for translation and printing on a label of the packaging data. In this manner, any text printed on the label may be multilingual.
Another concern for medical products is that the device be properly programmed and used. For example, infusion pumps should be programmed to dispense the correct dose. At present, each device has its own user interface and terminology including dosing units. Further, nurses calibrate devices in different ways: manually, via monitors, or via the device itself. Some hospitals develop rule libraries of drug dosing units and dosage limits, and they load the rule libraries into the devices, along with actions required and/or suggested if something is out of range. It has been proposed to add monitoring and interruption capability to patient-controlled infusion devices.
Some medical devices are too small to have barcode labels affixed to the device. Affixing such labels particularly increases labeling, storage and transportation costs. Some small manufacturers are unwilling to invest in labeling systems to comply with lot and expiration barcode requirements, or affixing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
It is known to print information such as a bar code with electrically conductive ink. As used herein and in the claims, bar code refers to a conventional bar code, a data matrix, and techniques for representing printed information in condensed form relative to alphanumeric text.
Mobile communications have been proposed in the health area. SIMpill, a South African firm, makes a small device that clips on to a medication bottle and sends a text message to a central computer when the cap is removed. If no message arrives, the central computer sends a text message reminder to the patient's mobile phone.
As another example, LG, a South Korean handset manufacturer, sells a phone with a built-in blood glucose meter, for use by diabetics, that transmits readings to a computer for further analysis.
An example, from the automotive field, of transmitting sensor readings in conjunction with location is the General Motors OnStar system. Within seconds of a moderate to severe vehicle crash, the vehicle's OnStar module will send a message to the OnStar Call Center (OCC) through a cellular connection, informing an advisor at the call center that a crash has occurred. A voice connection between the advisor and the vehicle occupants is established. The advisor then can conference in 911 dispatch or a public safety answering point (PSAP), which determines if emergency services are necessary. If there is no response from the occupants, the advisor can provide the emergency dispatcher with the crash information from the vehicle's sensing and diagnostic module that reveals the severity of the crash. The dispatcher can identify what emergency services may be appropriate. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, OnStar advisors are able to tell emergency workers the location of the vehicle.
It is expected that government regulations, the needs of customers for more information, as well as the desire to provide more features to customers, will result in increasing demands relating to the scope and availability of product information. For example, when customers can track their goods through the distribution process, the customers can treat distributor facilities as the customers' inventory warehouses.
Accordingly, there is room for an improved product information system.